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This manual was developed from the experiences of a number of communities and organisations in southern and eastern Africa in creating Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools as a response to the growing number of orphans and vulnerable children. For many reasons these children more likely than other orphans to be at risk from malnutrition, disease, abuse, stigmatisation and sexual exploitation. The risk of sexual exploitation is particularly significant for those left alone to cope with poverty and who are forced to adopt adult roles and ensure food for the rest of the family. As parents and family members become ill, children take on greater domestic, agricultural and income generating responsibilities. HIV and AIDS has a particular impact on girls who are left to care for ailing parents, or who have to become the heads of households upon the death of caregivers. Also, as many parents are dying at a young age orphaned children are growing up without the necessary knowledge and skills for their future livelihood

This roundtable focused on communication for sustainable development, and highlighted three key themes: communication for natural resource management (NRM), communication for isolated and marginalized groups, and communication in research, extension and education

This study's main objectives are to evaluate traditional means of communication; to note their constraints; to select the traditional methods which can best be used for the diffusion of information and to devise a strategy for implementing the selected method of traditional communication. The methodology of this survey is based on the Active Method of Participative Research.
The study illustrates that the traditional media for communication in Cameroon are: the gong and songs accompanied by dances (in all of the surveyed provinces); the xylophone (in the center and south); griot [travelling poet] and balafon (in the east); colleagues of the traditional chiefs (Lawanes, Djaoros); and messengers of traditional chiefs or muezzins (extreme north).There are numerous constraints to using individuals in devising communications strategies: a lack of trained musicians, the lack of initiative on the part of the village elders, the disinterest of the youth, conflict among the different generations, the proliferation of modern communications technologies, the complexity of training in various methods, the possible alteration of messages, a lack of motivation and the slow speed of transmission. The study notes that the best methods for the diffusion of information in the regions surveyed in Cameroon are: the gong, the colleagues and messengers of traditional chiefs to organize village meetings in which reproductive health issues could be raised, singing and dancing, travelling poets and xylophones.
In order to devise effective strategies for conveying messages about reproductive health through these traditional methods of communication, traditional authorities must be engaged early on in the process and informed of the importance of these means of communication; qualified individuals must be identified as resources and others trained; and a training of trainers must be conducted

This article reviews the current literature on the subject, and also highlights three key methodological issues to be addressed: how to assess the degree and quality of participation; how to measure the costs and benefits of participation to the stakeholders involved; and how to assess the impact of that participation on desired project outputs, project performance and sustainability. An annotated bibliography is also provided

Begins with the need to work at the 'first mile' of connectivity - essentially the prevailing conditions for rural communities - when discussing the value of new information communication technologies. Emphasises people and the communication process, and the various factors of community dynamics and context that frame any communicaiton initiatives, not the technology . Chapters cover a range of examples of participatory communication methods, such as Participatory Rural Communicaiton Appriasal, and the training of 'community animators'. Looks at examples of rural telephony and radio, telecentres, video and the Internet, and also discusses some issues connected to telecommunications infrastructure and regulation, such as rural networking co-operatives and parterships with the private sector